Metin/Grammar
Abbreviations used in this guide NP: noun phrase VP: verb phrase 1: 1st person singular 2: 2nd person informal 2H: 2nd person honorific 0: 0 person 3': 3rd person topical 3^: 3rd person retrogressive 1E: first person exclusive 1I: first person inculsive Po: posessor S: subject Do: direct object Io: indirect object As: absolutive Uas: unabsolutive (typically not marked in morpheme glosses) Al: ablative Lo: locative Da: dative Irr: irrealis Rea: realis (unmarked by default on verbs) Co: Continuous (always marked by both verb stem and prefixes but only the prefix marking is shown in glosses) Mo: Momentous (always marked by both verb stem and prefixes but only the prefix marking is shown in glosses) Po: Potential Vo: Volitional St: Stative Tr: Transitive Itr: Intransitive Dtr: Ditransitive R: relative (ta means nearby-1R, as in relative to the first person, te means nearby-2R, as in relative to the second person xor: exclusive or ior: inclusive or Inq: Inquisitive Neg: Negative Prn: Pronominal Cop:Copula Pl: plural F: free Ts: human Yy: inhuman M: inanimate object W: machine Sx: location Ch: mass ChT: change topic Aug: augment Dim: diminishment Sentence structure The minimal sentence in Metin contains a Predicate, which heads a verb phrase. Here are examples of what would translate as a predicate in Metin It '''rains, '''that '''is a dog''', I '''give '''flowers to the children. Predicates have valence, which indicates how many arguments the predicate may take and what forms they may ha. Univelent: it '''rains''' 1there: The noun phrase In Metin, all full noun phrases, or noun phrases which can stand by themselves in a sentence, contain a head noun, which must be case marked, and are always the first word of their respective noun phrase. There can be only one head noun per noun phrase. The head noun of a noun phrase must bear case markings to indicate its role in the sentence. A case marked noun is said to be in the absolutive. A head noun together with its optional descriptive phrases (adjectives phrases, verb phrases, demonstratives, and other words or phrases which describe the head noun and come after it) is referred to as the head phrase. A head phrase all by itself is all that is necessary to make a full noun phrase. To the head phrase may be appended further subphrases, noun phrases which are appended to the head noun phrase and play the same role in the sentence. Subphrases cannot stand by themselves in a full phrase. They must have a case marked head phrase standing before them. The noun which heads a subhead phrase is called a subhead noun, and is placed into the "caseless case", or unabsolutive case. Subphrases can have descriptive phrases attached after them just as a head noun phrase can. A noun phrase which contains only a head phrase with no subhead noun phrases is called a simple noun phrase. A noun phrase which contains head noun phrases and attached subhead noun phrases is called a compound noun phrase. Multiple full noun phrases that share identical case markings and are part of the same verb phrase must be combined into a complex noun phrase. Forming absolutive and unabsolutive nouns. Nouns can form the unabsolutive in several ways. Some completely lose their absolutive prefix, some keep a reduced form of this prefix, and a small class of nouns, like '''yúus, '''loses their pitch accent in the unabsolutive. The vowels shown in parentheses are epenthetic vowels which tend to disappear when the preceding word ends with a vowel or nasal and the following consonant in the root of the noun is dissimilar from the first consonant of the unabsolutive word's prefix. '''tsimee-s(į)mee''': person '''įhhuska-huska''': shirt '''m(į)héá-héá: '''bridge '''chacxó-sh(ą)cxó: '''beverage '''hulaj-laj: '''shoulders '''útchaw-t(į)chaw: '''train '''yúutsaa-yuutsaa: '''eye '''sxutl'an-sx(į)tl'an: '''city The unmarked, or naked absolutive is used for full noun phrases that hold nominative or accusative roles in the sentence. 3 of the noun cases in Metin are marked using prefixes that come before the noun and after its class prefix, if present. These are the prefixal cases, and comprise the dative, ablative, and locative. In addition, there are numerous case markers in Metin which require case markers that come after the noun, the suffixal cases. Posessors Both absolutive and unabsolutive nouns can bear posessive suffixes. These suffixes distinguish alienable and inalienable posession. These suffixes go before any case suffixes or logical suffixes. '''yúutsu: '''''my eye (inalienable)'' '''yúutsájáh: '''''your eye'' '''yúutseh: '''''Her eye'' '''įhta įhhuskayiz?: '''''Whose shirt is this?'' '''tsisuhitsih?: '''''Whose friend (are you)?'' '''yúutsaa: '''''an eye, eyes( in general. ''Eyes must be posessed, so the suffix -aa is obligatory. Nouns which require inalienable suffixes are marched as such in the dictionary Some nouns can take on both the alienable and inalienable suffixes, using the alienable suffixes implies a sense of detachibility or self-containedness '''yúutsoh: '''''my camera'' '''yúutsu:''' ''my eye'' '''jxįl:'' '''a recorder''' ''jxįlaa:'' '''an ear'' '''chagułé:''''' his covering, something he is wearing '''''chagułéh:''''' his, its skin, a coat (of paint)'' When a noun is posessed by another noun phrase, it is marked either with the alienable suffix '''-e''' or the inalienable suffix '''-i'''. The posessing noun phrase is placed in the absolutive. '''yúutsi tsuoobhii: '''''The woman's eye'' '''yúutse tsuoobhii: '''''The woman's camera'' The usage of the relative suffixes '''-unmu''' and '''-unmuh '''is fairly complicated and is discussed in the relative clause section. Description of nouns '''Noun adjective compounds''' The combination of a noun and an adjective can be turned into a compoun word by the concept suffix -'''''íís''''' '''mrabhí qoo: ''' ''A white suit (any kind of suit which is white)'' '''mrabhí qooyíís: ''' ''A whitesuit (The kind of suit worn by a matron)'' '''Noun noun compounds''' All noun-noun compounds require a suffix of relationship. As with all metin noun constructions, the first noun is the head noun '''ooc: '''First noun is constructed or suited for usage by the second noun. '''ą́sh: '''First noun is made of second (mass) noun (replaces '''sh(ą)''' of second noun if present). '''íw: '''First and second noun go together (bow and arrow, hills and valleys, etc.) '''mą''': noun is both things at once| '''hǫmązhąng''': numeric name (both a number and a name) '''Noun verb compounds''' noun - '''uu '''- verb: noun's main purpose is to verb Compound noun phrase A compound phrase consists of one absolutive (head) noun phrase and one or more unabsolutive noun phrases, linked to head phrase with by the logical suffixes '''-mi/in'''(and), -'''lú/úl '''(exclusive or or), -'''dį/įd'''(inclusive or),and '''-bhon''' (not). '''Bhon''' also sees usage in simple noun phrases, in sentences like "No man ever goes there". These 3 suffixes are the very last suffixes that can occur on a noun, after posessive suffixes. '''oawa tsiwio sįnmomi.''' people As-mother-1P father-1P-and ''Here are my mother and father.'' '''chaqéz shącxódį?''' As-food Uas-drink-ior ''(Do you want) some food and/or something to drink?'' '''lac'uincaayns wáák'úa sxuimixtl'an sxkíélúz.''' drive-1I.Po-fly throughout-today DA-mixt'an kíé-xor ''We have enough time fly to Mixtl'an or Kíé today, but not both.'' '''hatxuns muo tsiplerbhon''' 3s.Itr-be.asocial always Ts.As-good.citizen-no ''No good citizen spends all of their time away from people. '' '''Dummy logical noun phrases''' Dummy logical noun phrases are used to communicate concepts like ''everything'', ''nothing'', or ''only''. They consist of a logical suffix appended to a meaningless noun. '''minbhon: '''''Only'' (means "and not anything) '''muchebhai oawions minbhon''' 1IDO-3S.Tr-govern Ts.Pl.As-ancient.people all-no ''Only the eldest govern us''. Grouping A compound noun phrase or plural simple noun phrase can play its role in the verb phrase either as a whole group or as a collection of separate individuals. A collection of separate individuals is the default interpretation of a plural noun phrase. '''yédánh oamee''' 3Ov.tr-separate As.pl-person ''He removes the people from each other (each person is now separate)'' To make a plural noun phrase into a group, the infix '''-jo-''' is placed after the first noun prefix and before the first noun stem. '''yédánh oajomee''' 3'.tr-separate As.Ts.pl-Group-person ''He isolated the people (the people remain together in a group, but separate from something else)'' '''jo '''can be extended to group together all of the elements of a compound noun phrase. '''yétee tsimniu swiumi''' 3'.tr-reward As.Ts-father-1Po.Ia Ias.Ts-mother-1Po.Ia-and ''She rewards my mother and father (each is rewarded separately)'' '''yétee tsijomniu swiumi''' 3'.tr-reward As.Ts-Group-father-1Po.Ia Ias.Ts-mother-1Po.Ia-and ''She rewards my mother and father (they share in the reward'' Complex noun phrase A complex noun phrase has multiple head nouns, each of which may further have unabsolutive noun phrases attached to them. The noun phrase which compose a complex noun phrase must be joined by the conjunctives '''mij''''''á '''(and), '''lújá '''(exclusive or), and '''dujá '''(inclusive or). '''hétunɮ mciar lúí mijá įhzáu chuot eetlág.''' 3.M-Tr-place As.M-plate blue and As.M-cup green Lo.M-table ''He's placing blue plates and green cups on the table.'' '''yint'oąítuyns tewįtie sxuiręę́je tsuooduia dujá sxuiręę́je tsuoowio''' 3'Do-2S-place.irrealis this-by.you-few LO-bedroom-P AL-Duia ior LO-bedroom-P AL-mother-1P ''You can put those in Duia's room or mom's room.'' When the same noun heads multiple NPs linked by '''já, lújá, '''or '''dujá''', the noun does not need to be repeated in every '''já''' phrase. Thus, the above sentence can be shortened to '' '' '''yint'oąítuyns tewįtie sxuiręę́je tsuooduia dujá tsuoowio''' ''You can put those in Duia's room or mom's (room).'' Descriptive phrases There are many varieties of descriptive phrase in Metin. Descriptive phrases go after the noun or noun phrase they describe exclusively. A descriptive phrase has at least 1 argument (monovalent), for the noun or noun phrase they describe, but some types take more. Conjunctions and: '''ming, minx ... mig''' xor: ''' lúng , lúnx ... lúg''' ior: '''dįng, dįnx ... dįg''' Direct descriptive phrase A direct descriptive phrase has an arity of 1. These phrases resemble English adjectives. '''mta mkxįyaon ǫ́hwaaf''' As-thing-this-1R As-towel fluffy ''Here's a fluffy towel.'' The adjectives perceived as the most "essential" go closest to the noun, in approximately this order. The word '''xi '''comes after the "true" essential adjectives, before numbers and demonstratives class/substance > shape > surface features > color> beauty >age> size >xi> number > demonstrative > possessor '''bhaa bhábhanw ming góos!''' Cop shiny and smooth and ''It's both shiny and smooth!'' Adjectives can be preceded by the long forms of evidential prefixes. '''tsimee ta áazsuh.''' As.Ts-person at.hand-1R seems-friend ''She seems friendly'' '''hécxǫ ooji oozáu ienfánma.''' 3'.Pr.Tr-drink As.water Al.M-cup looks-shiny ''He's drinking water from a shiny-looking cup.'' Polyvalent Descriptive phrases Descriptive phrases with a valence greater than 1, or polyvalent descriptive phrases, are used in constructions like "A city rich in culture" or "A dress vibrant in color". Yen phrases '''Yen''' phrases are prefixed with '''yen-''' and are bivalent. They demand an ablative noun phrase to follow immediately after. This construction is very productive and used far more extensively than its English counterpart. '''sxugį́taang yenmíír unwji''' As.Sx-land St-abundant Al-water ''a land with abundant water'' '''sxutl'an yenmíír uęęme tsoiu''' As.Sx-city abundant Al.Pl.Ts-people rare ''A city full of uncommon people'' '''tsitxá yenjáie chontsíx tj'axkúzmį''' As-man beautiful Al-hair Us-clothes-and ''A man with beautiful hair and clothing'' Descriptive verbs Verbs can be used to head descriptive phrases. The verb must have no non-pronoun arguments or any adverbial phrases associated with it. The verb will have the 0 subject prefix, with the dummy '''h/hį''' prefix which precedes continuative verbs with 0 subject and no disjunct prefixes ommitted. '''Examples with intransitive verbs''' ''' tsimnah tas hétl'úę́g''''' '''''oadáánmiye''' 3'.Pr-dine As.Ts-father be.happy As.Pl.Ts-family-0P-with ''The happy father has lunch with his family'' '''łigaa ɮí sxeuttl'an tiin z̨a''' 1E.Pr-stick.out in Lo.Ts-city crowded this-1R ''We stand out in this crowded city.'' Transitive verbs in these constructions take indefinite objects, giving a different meaning than their intransitive counterpart '''tas''': happy | '''etas''': "makes something happy", joy-bringing '''tsimee tas: '''A happy person | '''tsimee etas: '''A person who brings joy to those around them '''tsimee tsííl: '''Lost person | '''tsimee etsííl: '''Forgetful person '''ooji móíg: '''Swirling water | '''tsibhii emóíg: '''A woman twiddling with something Noun phrase assignment Noun phrases can be assigned to other noun phrases using the suffixes '''ízaa''', '''ízi ... zii, '''and '''úzu ... zuu, '''which are added to the head noun like other vowel initial suffixes such as the posessive suffixes. '''ímaa '''is used to assign a noun to a special pronoun, a short abbreviation which will stand for the noun phrase in later sentences. Special pronouns are usually ordinal numbers combined with a noun class prefix, though they can also be other short nouns. Special pronouns are always a single noun and lack any internal structure beyond class prefix and stem. '''íshaa''' does the same thing as '''ímaa''' but in addition places the attached noun phrase into the proximate person. '''ízi ... zii''' encloses a proniminal phrase, an abbreviation for a more complex noun phrase that can have as much internal structure as a noun phrase. '''íz̨hi ... z̨hii, '''in addition, places that pronominal phrase into the proximate person. '''úzu ... zuu''' is used to define new words in a conversation or document, words which are expected to be remembered indefinitely. '''úz̨hu z̨huu''' also places the attached noun phrase into the proximate person. '''úen sxeutmetin oameyúzu oagoz̨ zuu ring jing idió klóh. ''' Doc Lo.Sx-Metin.nation As.Ts.Pl-person-Def As.Ts.minor Def.Ech live more.than 26 year ''People in the Metin nation who are less than 26 years old are known as "oagoz" (minors).'' '''úen sxeutmtin oameyúz̨hu oagoz̨ z̨huu ring jing idió tsii oayintebhęęw oaruwint-síéns.''' Doc Lo.Sx-Metin.nation As.Ts.Pl-person-Def As.Ts.minor Def.Ech live more.than 26 years Ts.Ech Ts.Pl-3p.O-govern.Hab Ts.Pl-3p.O-parent.Hab ''People in the Metin nation who are less than 26 years old are known as minors and are wards of their parents.'' Noun phrase time order Several noun phrases which participate in the same verb phrase but at different points in time can be conjoined by time markers, which are placed in before the noun phrases they head. A sequence of Noun phrases headed with time markers forms a type of complex noun phrase known as a chronological complex noun phrase. '''yaá: '''first '''qei:''' and then '''mełyá, t'ainyá, zxuingýa, '''(Ordinal)'''yá:''' 2nd, 3rd, 4th, Xth (Time) '''muá: '''At (time) (Time) '''inzx''' (time) '''moinjxá: '''From time to time '''mua''' (verb phrase) '''muyaá: '''During, at (verb phrase). [Exact meaning depends on the aspect of the verb phrase]. Verbs phrases In the Metin language, both nouns and verbs can "head" a verb phrase. The differences between the two are more a matter of semantics than of grammar. Nouns, when used as predicates, can take subject prefixes, tense markers, evidential prefixes, and other markers as verbs do. A nominal predicate is treated as a stative verb meaning "to be NOUN". Nominal predicates, when modified by adjectives and such, must enclose their modifiers with an echo pronoun as verb phrases do. '''Copular sentences''' As-NP (bhaa) As-NP '''tsimee z̨a tsimetin''' As.Ts-person that-1R As.Ts-Metin ''That person is Metin. (neutral tone)'' '''tsimee z̨a bhatsimetin''' ''That person is Metin (adressee had thought they looked like another ethnicity)'' '''bha-''' is prefixed to predicate the second NP in copular sentences, which makes the first noun phrase the topic. Topicalizing the first noun phrase means that the first NP is the second noun phrase in exclusion to several other alternatives; eg; That person is Metin, (not Ishnna or some other ethnicity). '''bha''' is usually used to correct people, and can sound somewhat rude.''' ''' '''d̨ha- '''transforms a statement into a question. It is prefixe to the NP in question, which is moved to the front of the sentence, as the object of a question is always the topic''. '''d̨ha- '''questions are often responded to with '''bha-''' answers with identical word orders'' '''dhątsimeez̨a tsii tsimetin? ''' Inq As.Ts-person that-1R As.Ts-metin ''Is '''that person '''Metin? ''(One of the people the asker is referring to is Metin but the asker is uncertain which) '''dhątsimetin tsimee z̨a''' Inq As.Ts-Metin As-person that-1R ''Is that person '''Metin'''? ''(The person being referred to is of ambiguous ethnicity) '''Negative copular sentences''' '''Míinmi '''negates a copular sentence. It may occur in the same position as '''bhaa'''. '''Míntsigaw tsimee z̨a ''' Neg-Ts-person As.Ts-person that-1 ''That person is not a commoner (sounds neutral).'' '''tsimee z̨a míntsigaw''' As.Ts-person that-1 Neg-Ts-person ''That person is no commoner (addressee screwed up and mistook a noble for a commoner)'' '''Mínd̨ha- '''is the negative of '''d̨ha-'''. '''tsui mínd̨hach'ééye tsuootsyájen mįn miyaa? ''' As.ts Neg-Inq-As.phone-3Po Ab.ts-child-2Po m.echo As.m-at.hand-1 ''Isn't this her daughter's phone? '' '''mínd̨hatsíaasuhájá ''' Neg-Inq-As.ts-1s-friend-2Po ''Am I not your friend?'' '''Evidentials in Copular Sentences''' The full from of the evidential (ienmi, uonmo, etc...) is placed at the beginning of the sentence. '''uǫtlo tsitxen tsijueng''' hearsay As.Ts-Txen As.Ts-scientist ''Txen is a scientist (so-I-hear).'' The long form of the evidential prefix (ien-, uon- etc.) may also be prefixed to bha. '''uǫlbha tsitxen tsijueng''' hearsay-Corrective As.Ts-Txen As.Ts-scientist ''I hear Txen is a scientist. (not whatever you thought he was)'' '''Locative sentences''' '''Simple locative sentences''' preposition--Lo NP--As locative object NP '''oon tsuarme z̨a sxudhááy ghe''' above Lo.Ts-person that As.Sx-staircase that.Inv-2R ''The staircase is above that guy. (the staircase can't be seen from where the adressee is)'' prepositional Prn--As locative object NP '''sxutxienme sxuoomíxtl'an muyo''' As-forum-P Al-Míxtl'an under.you ''Under you is the forum of Mixtlan.'' When the prepositional NP is first, the location of the object. It is the word order exculsively used when answering "where" questions. When the locative object NP is first, the identity of the noun is emphasized. This word order is typically used to point out interesting or important objects '''Ellipted locative sentences''' The object of a locative sentence may be ellipted. '''oozó''' behind.you ''It's behind you.'' '''ɮí oowji''' inside Al-water ''It's in the water.'' '''Locative sentences with multiple prepositional NP's''' The prepositional NP's are listed in sequence from general to specific. '''bhuay yerrao''''' ''''' bhiminz'' ''sxuarmunz pli sxuaɬtoó isin qoo''' inside Lo-town near Lo.Ts-Munz through Lo.Ts-garden As-path white ''The white path is in the city, going through the garden near Munz's place.'' Relative clauses '''When the topic is the subject, direct object, or indirect object of multiple clauses in direct sequence.''' In this situation, each of the successive clauses is strung together with the verb always in initial position. The verb of the first clause will agree with the topic using a 3' personal prefix, the other verbs will agree with the topic with a 0 personal prefix. As always, the topic of such a sentence will be placed at the very front. '''tsiyáang liiépxú tsijué txaápxen''' As.Ts-youth 3'.Tr.Pr-see 3'.Itr.Pr-enter ''The youth who sees Jué is coming in'' Adjective conjunction Multiple simple adjectives can be simply stated in sequence.The adjectives perceived as the most "essential" go closest to the noun, in approximately this order. class/substance>shape>surface features> color> beauty >age> size >xi> number > demonstrative>posessor The conjunction '''xi''' will come after the "true" essential adjectives and before numbers, demonstratives, and posessors. '''inmáabhai tsuiya įhhuskaye gít'iyaon ty'uy xi tsįtxen janzja. ''' Seen-again-Itr-0-C-wear this.person ABS-shirt-his wrinkle-2D red xi Txen that.same-1R. ''I see her wearing Txen's same wrinkled red shirt again. '' The conjunction '''iiz'''''' '''links together multiple complex adjectival phrases, and is obligatory when a noun phrase is modified more than one possessor or complex adjectival phrase. It acts as a sort of logical and. '''jįmií timinz sxeutmixtl'an iiz jáie''' As-apartment near-R Lo.Ts-Mixtl'an and beautiful ''Beautiful apartments that are near Mixtl'an'' This conjunction can be compounded with '''lúz''' (xor) and '''dį '''(ior) to form '''iilúz '''and '''iidį '''respectively. '''bhaang jįmií timinz sxeutmixtl'an iilúz jáie, chį miínmang jįmií timinz sxeutmixtl'an iiz jáie''' There.are As-apartment near-R Lo.Sx-Mixtl'an xor beautiful, but There.aren't As-apartment near-R Lo.Ts-Mixtl'an and beautiful ''There are not beautiful apartments near Mixtl'an. (There are apartments near mixtl'an or beautiful, but there aren't apartments near mixtl'an and beautiful).'' Verb conjunction '''wos: '''and '''los: '''xor '''dos: '''ior'' '' Time phrases In Metin, specific points of time (like dates) are always named with ordinal numbers. Durations of time, however, are quantified with cardinal numbers, fitting in general with the Metin principle of using ordinal numbers for names and cardinal numbers for quantities. Dates Years, or klóh The current, unmarked Metin calendar system gives year 1 as being 88,376 years in the past, the year in which the People of the stars first landed on Fuuyo. Compound sentences Expressing temporal relationships between verbs The prefix '''dí''' is used to identify the verbal action which came before. The exact meaning of dí varies based on the aspect of both the previus and following actions. dí implies that the previous action caused the next action. tl'ú does not make this implication. '''dí '''affixed to a momentous verb '''lidíépxú tsitiys tsid̨úken hįtsun''' dí-3os-sees As.Ts-student As.Ts-teacher 0-nervous ''The student sees his teacher and is nervous'' Habitual nouns Nouns which preform or undergo a verbal action periodically are expressed by prefixing a fully conjugated continuous verb with an absolutive prefix such as '''tsi, eey, m-, we-, '''or '''cha-''', depending on whether the noun in question is human, servile/inhuman, a tool, a machine, or a mass respectively. '''la-0-caayn: '''To pilot it '''tsi-laacaayn''' As.Ts-0s-pilot ''A pilot (human)'' '''eey-laacaayn''' As.Yy-0s-pilot ''A pilot (servile)'' '''tsi-laácaayn''' As.Ts-3os-pilot ''S/he who pilots, S/he is a pilot'' '''tsi-lǫǫhcaayn''' As.Ts-1s-pilot ''I who pilot, I am a pilot'' '''oa-laanwcaayn: ''' As.Pl.Ts-1Es-pilot ''We who pilot, we are pilots.'' '''Habitual nouns phrases with arguments''' Habitual nouns can take the arguments that the verbs they are derived from can. The structure of a habitual nouns phrase is thus: Habitual nouns- arguments -freeform absolutive that agrees with the habitual noun. '''tsimee ta ''tsilaáncaayn oaxúéfiish cxinmaaz tsii'' kpagiíndjhac jyahóé tsoiu xi jhęú xi''' As.Ts-person this As.Ts-3's-pilot As.pl.Ts-gamesman-ChT Dat.Pl.Sx-wilderness part As.Ts.F Prp-Ben-3's-search As.pl.Yy-creature rare and strange and ''This person flies gamesmen out into the wilderness so that they might search for rare and unusual creatures for them (their clients).'' '''''tsilaáncaayn oaxúéfiish cxinmaaz tsii''''' a As.Ts-3os-pilot As.Pl.Ts-gamesman-ChT Da.Pl.Sx-wilderness As.Ts.F ''S/he who flies gamesmen out into the wilderness'' Purpose clauses Purpose clauses contain an irrealis verb prefixed with '''kpa-''' Topic introduction and change A topic is the NP about which a portion of discourse is about. 3' personal prefixes always refer to the role of the topic in a sentence. The simplest way to introduce and or change a topic is to place the topical NP at the very beginning of the sentence. When a new topic is introduced by placing it initially in the sentence, such as '''Oawions''' (the higher ups) in the 3rd line, the 3' personal prefixes will be referring to the role of the higher ups rather than that of the old topic '''tsisuhoh tsiMaang '''(my friend Maang). The old topic (my friend Maang) will then be referred to using the 3^ personal prefixes. '''tsisuhoh tsiMaang hémǫǫ sxeutLuu. giínthaa koiwions. tsidíchįpxú tǫ́nk'í tsii, wos díipleh, chįtee. ''' As.Ts-friend-1p As.Ts-Maang 3's.Pr-dwell Lo.Sx-Luu. Ben-3's.Pr-work As.Pl.Ts-higher.ups. As.Ts-because-3'do-0s.Pr-see every-day As.Ts.F, and.V because-3's.Pr-does.as.a.good.citizen.does, 3'do.0s.Pr-reward. ''My friend Maang lives in the city of Luu. There she works for some higher ups. Because they see her every day, and because she is diligent and resepctful, they reward her. '' '''inkx'odíijaíe meité, kx'ojxochęhjooj sxeuttsiyé jxaa fiǫǫhtas, inmęndífiaamíír mtsiyé iyyątsiyémi dįįn ''' '''tsánto. ''' SeeE-so-because-0s.Pr-beautiful home-3'p, so-with-3'do-1s.Pr-hang.out Lo.Sx-place-3'p very-1s.Pr-happy SeeE-because-very-0s.Pr-abundant As.M-thing-3'p Uas.Yy-servile-3'p-and interesting various. ''So her home is very beautiful, and I have a lot of fun hanging out there, as she has a great variety of interesting things and serviles.'' '''imingoqimoózii euzhín. ''oawions'' ázkx'ointeéndés sxutsiyen tsiyenmi iyyątsiyenmi. ioshdímiswéé, eshplehmisziinzx.''' HearE-despite-subversive-3's-say in.private. As.Pl.Ts-higher.ups InfE-so-3^io-3's.Mo.Dtr-punish.Ire As.Ts-place-3^p Uas.M-thing-3^p-and Uas.Yy-servile-3^p-and. HopE-3^s.Pr-reasonable.Ire, HopE-in.line-3^s.Pr-say.Ire.Inc ''But I hear her say many subversive things in private. So I worry the higher ups will punish her, and take away her things and serviles. I hope she is reasonable, and starts talking about more in line things.'' Changing the topic with the suffix -iish This is an alternative to introducing a new topic by placing it in the initial position in a sentence. Notice how the 3' personal prefix refers to the first topic, '''tsid̨ukoh''' (my boss) in the first sentence, but after the '''-iish '''suffixed noun '''oameyiish '''is introduced the 3' personal prefix refers to the '''oameyiish tsoiu '''(strange people) in the following verb. '''tsid̨ukoh uǫlépxú ''oameyiish'' tsoiu k'íǫx. gidiíxuij héłens sxeuttien. ''' As.Ts-boss-1p HeaR-3's.Pr.Tr-see As.Pl.Ts-people-ChT strange yesterday. 3's.Pr-wander 3's.Pr-high Lo.Sx-forum. My boss ''' '''told me she saw some strange ''people'' yesterday. They (the strange people) were wandering about high in the forum. Verbal derivational morphology The stative and continuative Stative verbs describe a "quantity" of some sort. '''hįcxú mciar ''' 3-Hot.St As.m-plate ''The plate is hot.'' '''hįcxú kitsię mciar ''' 3-Hot 63-+ As.m-plate ''The plate is 63 degrees (which is hot);'' Stative verbs can be modified with the augment '''(y)i''''''u''' and the diminishment '''(w)''''''ox'''. The augment(Aug) indicates that the observation is greater than normal. The diminishment (Dim) indicates the oppositve. Some verbs have the meaning of the augment and diminishment "built in", such as '''cxú '''(hot), vs '''ló''' (cold), which are equivalent to '''chótliu '''(high temperature) and '''chótlox '''(low temperature) respecitvely. '''mtoó tįtia uor''''''shúóye, mtoó tįtie shúówox ''' As.m-plantr near-group-1 Ev.test-rooted.in.St-Aug, near-group-2 rooted.in-Dim ''These plants are really rooted in the dirt, but the plants by you are easy to pull out.'' '''(y)iu '''and '''(w)ox '''have the proverbal forms '''yuu '''and '''oox''' respectively, forms used when the verb in a sentence is implied rather than stated. For example, both sentences above have the same verb '''shúó'''. A common rhetorical device when stating multiple similar sentences in sequence in Metin is to eliminate every repeated word in the subsequent sentences and only leave behind the parts that have changed. The above sentences can succesively be shortened to '''mtoó tįtia uor''''''shúóye, mtoó tįtie oox ''' '''mtoó tįtia uorshúóye, tįtie oox''' '''mtoó tįtia uorshúóye, je oox.''' Continuative verbs describe a change in that quantity. When paired with continuative verbs, '''(y)iu '''and '''(w)ox''' have hte meanings of posititve and negative change, respectively. Positive change is usually implied by default, making '''(y)iu '''unnecessary in most situations. '''hįcxuu(yiu) mciar''' 3-Hot.Co As.m-plate ''The plate heats up''. '''mtoótin tįtia aánzshúuyiu us, ja tét oox''' As.m-plant-kind near-group-1 Ev.Inf-root.Co-Aug morning, Id-1 evening Dim ''This kind of plant over here takes root in the morning and the roots wither away in the evening.'' Storytelling grammar Stories that are told mostly restricted to the perspectives of one or several people are told in First person narrative. In these stories, '''ó''', the first person pronoun, is reassigned to the perspective character in the story instead of the storyteller. Stretches used in this way are signaled by the introducer '''ó '''"'''character name'''"'''. ''' '' I, character. '' When perspective switches to another person in the story, the same construct is used. '''ó "2nd character"'''. ''I, 2nd character'' When the speaker wishes to return perspective back to themselves they say '''ohóo'''. ''I, myself.'' The second person pronoun, '''ąt, ''', is reserved for getting the listener's attention, 2nd person narrative is considered gramatically incorrect in Metin. Imperative grammar Imperative language like protocols uses an ommission of subject marking to indicate instructions to be carried out by the reader/listener. The following other persons are unique to imperative language. '''3 imperative''': This subject is a 3rd person that the commanded is supposed to recruit/order to carry out the verb marked with it. '''2-1 hortative''': This subject is used on verbs that the commanded is supposed to do with the commander. It can often be translated as "let's verb" or "help me verb" in English. '''2-3 cooperative''': This subject is something the commanded is supposed to do together with helpers. It roughly means "get 3 to help you verb" or "verb with 3". '''1 imperative''': An infrequent imperative person, these are instructions the commanded is supposed to get their commander at some point. Noun morphology